Washington: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the furore over calculated traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge won’t deter him from a possible White House bid, even as another prominent ally resigned yesterday.

The 51-year-old Republican faced reporters a day after a review Christie commissioned cleared him of responsibility for four days of punishing traffic on bridge approaches in Fort Lee, where the mayor didn’t endorse his re-election. The governor’s approval ratings have fallen 20 percentage points, and Christie acknowledged his popularity took a hit.

“Yeah, sure, but there’s nothing permanent about that - like the same where there was nothing permanent about my standing being extraordinarily high,” Christie said. He planned to be in Las Vegas today for the Republican Jewish Coalition’s meeting, where he could court potential backers for the presidency.

Revelations that aides deliberately snarled traffic at the world’s busiest bridge - turning 30-minute commutes into three- hour ordeals - have become the biggest political crisis in Christie’s career. His national popularity fell to 32 per cent in March from 50 per cent in June, according to a Bloomberg National poll. The governor placed fifth among major candidates for president in a George Washington University Battleground Poll released March 25.

Highest Ranking

David Samson, Christie’s highest-ranking appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the George Washington Bridge, resigned as chairman yesterday. The former attorney general of New Jersey, Samson was linked by e-mails to the traffic jams. Christie told reporters that Samson had wanted to step down for years.

“He’s 74 years old and he’s tired,” Christie said at his first news conference in 11 weeks. Samson’s resignation, effective immediately, was “no shock,” Christie said. Another of his appointees, former Deputy Executive Director William Baroni, resigned from the Port Authority in December.

An internal report released March 27 by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, the New York law firm, put the blame for the bridge lane closings on Christie aides, while presenting the governor as an active chief executive dedicated to the truth and wounded by betrayal.

In e-mail messages Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to the governor, sent an August 13 e-mail to David Wildstein, a Christie ally at the Port Authority, that said: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Wildstein, who ordered the closings, replied: “Got it.”

‘Ulterior Motives’

Kelly and Wildstein ordered the closings for “unclear ulterior motives,” the internal report concluded. Both declined to be interviewed by lawyers for Christie’s administration. Separate investigations are also being conducted by US Attorney Paul Fishman and state lawmakers.

Christie said he fired Kelly and severed ties with Bill Stepien, his former campaign manager. Wildstein resigned.

In a message obtained under lawmakers’ subpoena, Wildstein told Kelly that Samson was “helping us to retaliate” for New York officials’ easing the jam on what would have been its fifth day.

Samson also has been the subject of reports in the New York Times, the Star-Ledger of Newark and other newspapers about Port Authority votes on projects with ties to his law firm, Wolff & Samson.

Pat Foye, the authority’s executive director appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, told the New York Daily News in February that Samson lacked moral authority to run the agency. Foye declined to comment on Samson’s resignation, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman.

‘Infirm’ Questions

Christie had avoided reporters’ questions since the scandal erupted in January. He said yesterday he wanted to gather facts before holding another news conference. The governor sparred with reporters during the session, calling the premise of one question “infirm” and another that displeased him ridiculous.

He is scheduled to speak to the Republican group today at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, in a weekend that will feature such high-profile Republicans as Ohio Governor John Kasich, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and keynote speaker Dick Cheney.

The group includes casino mogul and big Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, who in the past has sparred with Christie over New Jersey’s legalization of Internet gambling.